Changing Fates
by GlitteringDragon
Summary: Every year, twenty four tributes enter the arena. Every year, only one comes out. These are their stories.


Hilde could hear the mockery of the mob ringing in her ears as she crouched in the bushes just outside the only home she'd ever known. The wind cut through her clothes and thorns scratched her face and hands bloody, but she stayed where she was. If she made even the smallest sound, the rebels would kill her.

"Lousy bitch," one of the men spat, thrusting a torch in her mother's face. "I wouldn't breed my dog with you."

Another rebel - she wasn't sure which one, they're all the same to her - laughed. "She's too good for that. Why don't we show her the same _gratitude_ she showed the rebellion?" He produced a dagger from somewhere in his layers of clothing. "All she had to do was keep quiet, anyway."

The crowd cheered in agreement, pressing close to see the sick spectacle, and Hilde saw her chance. She crawled out of the thorn bush and ran into the forest, losing a shoe when she stumbled over a loose stone. The cacophony of the mob was eventually drowned out by distance and Hilde found a tree that would shelter her for the night.

Alone for the first time in her life, she cried for her mother and their home lost to the terror of the Rebellion and the Dark Days. She cried for her favourite doll that had been destroyed when the rebels set their home on fire. Most of all, she cried because she would never see her mother again. It had been a risk to pass Rebellion secrets to the Peacekeepers, Hilde's mother had said, but that meant it was even more important. You need to be ready to give up anything for the Capitol. Hilde had always thought that had meant her own life.

* * *

Days later, she stumbled out of the woods and into town, the sorrow in her heart hardening into anger and rage. District 1 was running rampant with criminals as the Rebellion breathed its last in the face of Capitol oversight. The rebels had mostly pulled out, leaving behind nothing but corpses and parentless children. Another dirty orphan wandering the streets was nothing new, and so she was taken to the newly re-built Community Home.

She wasn't welcomed - one more mouth to feed is never a welcome thing- but she did her best to not attract attention and do what she was told. She didn't respond when she heard traitorous whispers from the older children at night, and when the son of now-dead rebels muttered she'd as good as held the knife to his father's throat, Hilde kept silent.

At least until the Reaping was announced.

Twenty-four children would be chosen, two from each district, to fight to the death. The winner would gain fame and fortune and would never want for anything ever again. The Capitol was generous. They could have taken everything from Panem, like they did from District 13, but instead they only took two children.

She was sixteen, almost aged out of the Home and had just started to grow into her body with curves more pronounced than any of the other girls. When her name was pulled out of the bowl, she walked up onto the stage and tried to ignore the way the crowd was staring at her. No one in District 1 minded seeing her go, and she heard more than one whisper of, "If the traitor wants a piece of her precious Capitol so badly, she can have it." She forgot the name of her partner as soon as it was said, and she glared at the district. _When I win, _she promised herself, _I will rule this sorry place._

The escort, a government official charged with simply getting the tributes to the Capitol unharmed, didn't speak to them after they were marched to the train. With no time to say farewell - not that Hilde had anyone in the first place - they were sent off for the half-day of travel to the Capitol.

Once all the tributes arrived, they were taken to where a mile of District Two forest had been fenced off, with cameras set up everywhere so no one could disappear, and let loose. When the gong sounded, no one knew what to do. Instinct took over and it whispered, _the first to move, dies. _

There was a pile of weapons lying in the middle of the ring of tributes, and finally someone bolted. Into the woods. It broke the spell, though, and Hilde ran for the weapons, noticing a dagger. She had never been officially trained, but something about the dagger called to her, a memory of fire light, blood, and cheering.

Knife in hand, she made short work of her district partner. "Better to be killed by me," she whispered in his ear, noticing the murderous way the outer district tributes were staring at them.

The boy from District Eleven rushed at her then, and she just managed to avoid being gutted by his scythe, sliding her dagger between his ribs before racing into the woods.

A day later, she was found by the male tribute from District Four. He looked at her the same way the mob stared at her mother, but hours of lying in the undergrowth waiting to be found had only fueled her rage, and she jumped up and slit his throat.

That same day, the first Games ended. Hilde found some nightlock berries and an apple, and managed to convince the tiny girl from District 3 no one was going to be hurt and that she was just offering a snack.

* * *

District 1 sent a girl away to die and found she came back stronger than ever. The Rebellion managed to gain hold in District 1, only to have it torn away from them. And Hilde emerged from the arena stronger than ever. Her first act after being crowned Victor was to hunt down every remaining rebel and see them killed. Some called it revenge, but it was only justice after all. Adopting the name Grimhilde, she did indeed reign over District 1, just as she had planned all those years ago.


End file.
